Our Swing
by peanutbutter126
Summary: At first, it was his, and then she came along and it became theirs.


I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

I didn't put the genre as romance because in this story Naruto and Hinata are seven and romance would have seemed a little too serious for them. You can call it fluff.

Other than that, it's just some other drabble i did while waiting for sleep.

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_Our Swing_

Not for the first time, Naruto Uzumaki was the cause of an early lunch break.

He hadn't thought it would work; after all, Sensei was a Chunin. It wasn't likely that he would fall for something like a stink bomb. But he was Naruto Uzumaki, and nothing was impossible, not for him. It took a few favours from the dog-boy – who had then had to ask blonde girl - and a few minutes of planning with the lazy pineapple head, but by the time Iruka had moved from basic weapon instructions to the village's history, the stink bomb had become something much more… pleasant to the nose.

Not Iruka-sensei, though. He was allergic to pollen. At the moment, he was rather occupied with keeping tissues at hand – and getting rid of the bees in the room.

Needless to say, Naruto was very proud of himself.

He whistled on a pleased note as he walked down to the courtyard. Dog-boy slapped him a brief hi-five as they brushed passed, and it took more effort than necessary for Naruto to seem cool and collected rather than jump up and scream 'YATTA!'. It wasn't something a future Hokage would do.

Finally! Someone noticed his heroism! Naruto's grin was wider than it had ever been. Part one of Operation Become Hokage was complete. Part two was-

His whistling stopped so suddenly that the girl looked up and dropped the lid of her lunchbox in surprise. Naruto stared at her, trying very hard not to frown. That was _his _swing! It was his only companion. He hoped the girl wasn't going to take it away from him, just like the other children had to his previous hangouts. He gave her the Irresistible Big Blue Eyes treatment, allowing a tinge of hope to enter his demeanour.

She ended up dropping her entire lunchbox; its contents rolled in the dirt. Thankfully, all that remained were two rolls of sushi, and they were wrapped in plastic. She flushed a bright shade of red and bent down to gather her belongings. Naruto hastened to help her. He had no idea his Blue Eyes Jutsu was so powerful.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered, suddenly withdrawing when he approached. Naruto frowned – he hadn't even done anything.

The girl's fingers pressed together timidly and her gaze was focused on the ground, intent on burning the patch of grass at her feet. Naruto quickly packed the sushi back into the box and handed it to her. Her eyes flickered to it several times before she accepted it back with trembling hands.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled again. "I d-didn't know you s-sat here."

He felt very guilty, and he didn't know why. "Ne, it's okay!" he said grandly, grinning. "I shouldn't have used my jutsu on you like that. Old Man Hokage says he'll probably make it into an S-class forbidden jutsu one day." Naruto puffed out his chest boldly.

If it was possible, her cheeks resembled a tomato even more. "Ho… Hokage?" she whispered. "He's the s-strongest ninja in the village!"

"Sure is!" Naruto clarified in a loud voice.

She dropped her head and clutched her lunchbox close to her chest. Naruto peered curiously at her. The girl was… weird. She had strange eyes and a funny attitude to match. At least she didn't try to shoo him away like some of the meaner kids. She was probably in his class, too quiet for someone as loud as him to notice.

Her silence bothered him – especially the shaking of her shoulders and the amount of abuse her lip was undergoing. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, squatting down so that he could look up at her.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him and the hurriedly averted her gaze. "A-ano," she said quietly. "My f-father wants me to be strong."

"But you _are_ strong, aren't you?"

She shook her head. It looked like she was going to cry. Naruto hastily attempted to remedy the damage he had unconsciously inflicted. "Ne, it doesn't matter what other people want," he said quickly. She still wasn't looking at him, so he reached up and tugged at her wrist. She gasped softly in shock, but he had already rushed ahead. "You can't be strong just because your dad says you have to be; you've got to work hard."

She stared at him for a moment, stunned; she seemed to be particularly focused on the point of contact between them. Then, timidly, she said, "I do work hard."

Naruto grinned. "So it's okay then. Just keep working hard and you'll be strong in no time!"

He didn't understand the sad look she gave him, the gaze with those peerless pupils that seemed to tell him that life was a lot more complex than he took it to be.

Screw complex.

Suddenly, he realised that he had yet to introduce himself; according to Iruka-allergic-to-pollen-sensei, it was bad manners. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki!" he said, standing up. "I'm going to be Hokage one day!" She stared at him like he had grown a second head. He blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. "Is there something on my face?"

She turned away, embarrassed. "N-no!" She quickly thrust her lunchbox at him.

Naruto looked blankly at it. "For me?"

She nodded.

He grinned. "Cool, thanks!" He took out one of the wrapped sushi. "Wow, these look great! Here, let's share." Reaching into the container, he handed her the other roll. He sat down cross-legged on the ground and patted the spot next to him. "Come sit!"

She did, rather hesitantly. By the time she had peeled back the plastic of her sushi, Naruto had already wolfed down his and was staring longingly at hers. She blushed and wordlessly offered hers to him, but he just grinned and shook his head.

"Nah, you eat it. Ninja can go without eating for days." He waited until she had started to eat before asking, "Hey… your name's Hina… Hinata… right?"

She choked. Grimacing, Naruto thumped her back lightly. "D'you need some water?" he asked, concerned. She shook her head.

Finally, she caught her breath. "I-I'm okay," she gasped.

"Great! So… your name _is_ Hinata, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Ah, I know you!" he exclaimed, suddenly recalling. "You can do that cool thing with your eyes!"

It wasn't until he noticed her lack of response that he realised she was choking again. "Hey… are you _sure _you don't need water?"

She recovered faster this time, but her expression was one of shame. "Th-that's my cousin," she said in a small voice. "He is one year o-older than us."

Naruto frowned. Maybe he remembered the wrong person then. "Oh okay. I'll betcha he's really strong if he can do that thing with his eyes. You can do it too, right, Hinata?"

She stiffened. "N-no," she whispered.

"Oh…" Naruto winced. Hinata looked really sad. _Did I say something wrong?_ "Hey, don't be sad," he said. "I'll… I'll play with you!" And he waited anxiously for the ferocious 'No!'.

But it didn't come. "O-okay."

It was such a varying reply that Naruto was shocked speechless. "You will?" he asked, flabbergasted.

She nodded, hesitantly, as if wondering if she shouldn't have agreed.

He stared a moment longer. "Yatta!" Naruto cried, punching the air. "Come on then, Hinata!" He grabbed her hand and ushered her onto the swing. "Usually, I don't like to share my swing," he said casually as he went behind her, not noticing her flinch, "but since you're so nice… He gripped the thick rope and pulled back, grinning. "Hold on tight!"

Hinata's eyes grew impossibly wide when Naruto let go and she swung forward. The wind breezed up to meet her, brushing back her short hair and revealing her forehead where, had she been born into different descent, the seal of her clan would sit.

As the swing fell back, a rush of paranoia enveloped her like a cocoon. Hinata had fallen before, too many times. She knew how much it hurt. She involuntarily curled up, gripping the ropes tighter than ever with her small hands, and braced herself.

A pair of hands, no larger than hers, cushioned her descent and thrust her back upward again. Hinata's eyes widened. This sense of security, the knowing that someone would be there to catch her… it was magical.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto shouted, his voice carrying clear over the winds. "You're pretty nice. Why don't we be friends? This can be our swing. What do you think about that, huh?"

"That would be great," she replied without thinking.

She didn't see the grin on her companion's face. The next boost she got was stronger than the others. The ground suddenly seemed so far away, and the sky so near.

"Look Hinata!" came Naruto's cheerful voice. "You're flying!"

Yes, she was.


End file.
